Republic of Kosova (1990s)

The Republic of Kosova was established on July 2nd, 1990. It
is currently held under virtual occupation by Serbia.
Based on the Constitution of September 7 1990, Kosova is a Presidential Republic and an Independent and a Sovereign state.
The Parliament of Kosova gathered in Kačanik on September 7, 1990, and on the bases of the Constitutional Declaration of July 2, 1990, declared the Constitution of the Republic of Kosova, that defines Kosova as a sovereign state within the Former Yugoslav Federation.
On September 2, 1991, after some of the Republics of the former Yugoslav federation declared their independence, the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova adopted the Resolution of the Independence that proclaimed the Republic of Kosova as a Sovereign and Independent State.

Mark Sensen, 11 March 1998

The Republic of Kosova, which was proclaimed in 1990 and existed as
a set of institutions parallel with those of the Autonomous Province
of Kosovo and Metohija during the 1990's, has used a flag similar to
those of Albania and of the Albanian minority in Socialist Yugoslavia: a
red flag with proportions 1:2 and a black double-headed eagle centered
in the hoist half. The lack of official recognition of the
institutions which used this flag was the reason that there were very
few reports about it during the period; it appeared only in a few TV
reports, like those about the elections for the said institutions,
mostly during the early 1990's. Under the United Nations
administration, the flag was also being seen sometimes, but fell out
of use during the early 2000s, having been replaced with the flag of
Albania, which is currently usually seen as hoisted together with that
of Kosovo.

The flag with the same design could also sometimes be seen during the
early 2000s in the Serbian municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa, where a movement existed among the local Albanians which demanded that the areas be annexed to Kosovo, going as far as to claim that they once were part of it, although the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija has actually never comprised them. The flag, which was clearly a visual expression of these demands, has fallen out of use at about the same time as in Kosovo, being replaced with the flag of Albania, which was demanded to be officially recognized as the flag of Albanian minority in Serbia, contrary to the current legislation, which demands that the flag of a minority must visibly differ from that of a sovereign state. Although there were some initiatives that a distinctive flag for Albanian minority be adopted, it did not happen so far and the flag of Albania may still often be seen there, with no official status.

Tomislav Todorović, 7 March 2012

In the 1999 book fair of Francfort, the stand of Republic of Kosova was decorated witha pink square flag charged with the Albanian eagle.

Gvido Petersons, 21 October 1999

Erroneous report of the flag of
Kosovo

The Albanian flag with the red star outlined in yellow is
not the flag of Kosovo, and it has never been so. The flag was
the flag of the Albanian ethnical
community (similarly to other national flags defaced with the red
star) in late 1940s to late 1980s period. The fact that the Albanian
community was mostly represented in Kosovo made this flag to be
considered as the flag for Kosovo by some vexillological literature,
but Kosovo had no flag of its own - neither did
Vojvodina, the other Autonomous Region
of Socialist Yugoslavia. This flag was official probably until 1992,
when Yugoslavia removed the star, but it was rarely used since the
mid 1980s. Though, it has been reported since on occasions, probably
used due to the lack of flag without star, and I would not doubt that
there are still a few such flags to be seen around.

Željko Heimer, 6 May 1999

Kosovo under United Nations administration

Kosovo Police Service

Flag of Kosovo Police Service - Image by Željko Heimer, 9 December 2007

The flag of the Kosovo Police Service can be seen on the Kosovo Police website. The emblem on the flag is different from the Police emblem shown on the upper banner of the website.

Valentin Poposki, 13 February 2007

Defense Corps of Kosovo

Flag of the Defense Corps of Kosovo - Image by
António Martins, 7 November 1999

The emblem of the Defense Corps of Kosovo (formerly,
UÇK) shows a black map of the region on a red field.

António Martins, 7 November 1999

Dardania (flag of uncertain status)

Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Democratic League of
Kosovo, shows a flag he introduces as the flag of Kosovo, at a press
conference at his residence in Priština, Sunday October 29, 2000. The
flag bears the legend "Dardania", the ancient word for Kosovo, but is
not officially recognized by any international power, but Rugova
asked for recognition of independance for Kosovo, which officially
remains part of Yugoslavia.

Jens Pattke, 6 April 2001

The flag includes a yellow six-pointed star bordered black above
the heads of the eagle (no doubt in reference to the star in the
historical flag of 1912 Kemal
uprising, that was first rised in Priština), The eagle is
bearing an escutcheon "beneath" the ribbon, the shield outlined in
gold being quartered in 1 and 4 or a wheel sable, 2 gules, 3 sable. The red and black fields are no doubt based on the flag colours, but I am not sure what is the wheel for.

Željko Heimer, 31 October 2000

Dardania is a commonly used name for Kosovo among Albanians
(also a neighborhood in the capital, Priština) but I don't think
anybody thinks it would replace the name of Kosovo, which is rendered
as Kosova in Albanian even though the word itself (from
kos, blackbird) is Slavic in origin.

This happened over the weekend in Kosovo, as noted in the UN Media Report:

National symbols for Kosovo
The celebration of the Albanian Flag Day on 28 November in Kosovo saw
for the first time another "new" flag waving in Priština alongside the
black and red one. The mayor of the city decided to put up in several
streets the "Kosovo flag" designed by President Ibrahim Rugova.
Next morning, the new Dardania flag was missing and later in the day,
the KLA war veterans set fire to a pile of around 200 flags they had collected in Priština. Zëri reported afterwards that the same had happened in Peja. Rugova's "personal flag" provoked the blood that has been shed in Kosovo, war veterans said.
The raising and subsequent burning of the flag triggered all sorts of
reactions and fuelled an old media debate on, as it was broadly
referred to, national symbols for the birth of the new state of
Kosovo. Newspapers carried photographs, and extensive reports and
commentaries on the issue the following day.
Under the headline, Ismet, the provoker, Express wrote that the mayor
of Priština, Ismet Beqiri, tried to serve to the people of Priština
the state symbols as a fait accompli, ignoring the debate on the
subject. His naïve face reflects the irresponsibility of his decision,
which was countered by equally irresponsible acts by the war
associations, said the paper.Koha Ditore reported that the flag of the President had also generated
tension between the local government and the Opposition in the town of
Ferizaj.Dailies quoted President Rugova as saying that the flag was burned by
the opponents of freedom and independence. "This act constitutes a
serious violation of law in our country." Government called it
unacceptable and promised to work on providing state symbols.
Those who burned Dardania flag burned themselves, said Bota Sot.
Kosovo needs its symbols, the burned flag is only of the President,
wrote Koha Ditore.Lajm wrote that it seems that UNMIK is preserving a sample of Kosovo
state flag, saying that the administration had earlier proposed a
state flag for Kosovo with the map in the centre. This was not
confirmed by UNMIK officials, said the paper. "The UNMIK flag is the
only official one in Kosovo," the paper quotes UNMIK officials as
saying.
According to newspapers, all the local institutions and people are in
favour of new symbols for Kosovo, but they all stress that these
should be discussed and agreed on. Only the LKCK is in disagreement
with a new flag for Kosovo as they strive for unification with
Albania.
Chief of the US Office in Priština, Philip Goldberg said in an
interview with TV21 that he did not want to discuss whether the
raising of the flag was right or wrong, but the "burning of the flag
is not the image you want to send to the world".
[...]Zïri publisher Blerim Shala stressed in an editorial the necessity to
begin working on the elements of the new identity of the Kosovo state,
"as we do not want a situation at the end of the status talks where
the West proposes a flag for Kosovo".

The Rugova banners were on the streets of Priština at
about 3 PM on the afternoon of the 27 November - Albanian Flag Day
is 28 August - and by 6 PM they had been noticeably disappeared. A
lot of people said the opponents of the Dardania flag should have
dumped them at Rugova's HQ and not burned them.
A separate Kosova flag is a probable reality but not one that does not
reproduce the basic Albanian motif of black on red.

Stephen Schwartz, 2 December 2005

At the news about President Rugova's death, the Swedish TV showed some pictures from December 2005 - Rugova's last public appearance. The President was inside, and in the background in the room some flags were shown - the "Dardania" flag, as well as the Albanian, European Union and USA flags.
I visited Kosovo five times between March and June 2005. I visited Priština, Prizren, Ferizaj/Urozevac, and a few villages between this towns and the Macedonian and Albanian border, and only for one- or two-day visits. I never saw the "Dardania" flag. The usual Albanian flag was flown everywhere. The European Union and USA flags where also very frequently seen. At the border crossings to Macedonia and Albania, the United Nation flag was the the only one to bee seen.

Christian Berghänel, 23 January 2006

On the news was a report of the funeral of Rugova. On
the memorial table was a picture of him, behind which you could see the
"Dardania" flag, only with a darker ring betwen the blue and gold).
On a plaque that was shown next, there were two seals over some text. One was
what looked like the Albanian coat of arms and to its right the circular seal from the "Dardania flag". Around it were the words "Seal of the president of Kosovo" (in English for some reason I can't fathom). Therefore, the "Dardania flag" could be a kin of presidential flag.

Marc Pasquin, 23 January 2006

In April this year I had the chance to visit Kosovo again (at two different
occasions). The flag-situation was almost the same as last spring, that
Albanian, UN, USA, European Union, NATO flags where widely seen (except when crossing the Mitrovica bridge to the northern/Serbian side of the Ibar river, where a huge Serbian flag with the coat of arms was the first thing to be seen). However, in Priština I actually saw the Dardania flag once! It was hanging from the wall outside a public building.

The photo gallery of Kosovo Ministry of Public Services includes a couple of photos (no longer available online) showing the Dardania flag. Only one of this photos include the present President of Kosovo, therefore I guess itis obvious that the Dardania flag neither was Rugova's personal flag nor is the Presidential flag.

Christian Berghänel, 15 October 2006

Quoting the transcript provided from KohaVision TV, Priština, in Albanian, 13 November 2005:

[Reporter] Even sports have not been able to avoid the issue of
symbols. The Kosova football team, who wore black and red colours,
used the president's flag during a tour to Turkish Cyprus. According to Ministry officials this was recommended by Minister Astrit Haracia.

The "president's flag" is apparently the blue flag used abundantly by
Ibrahim Rugova, but it was formally never "the presidential flag", of
course.